Gluten Free Deep Fried Pickles with Vegan Buttermilk Ranch Dip

I feel slightly guilty when I test recipes like these. I feel the need to assure everyone out there that Levi and I do not (stress: do not) normally eat stuff like this. This is more like a novelty recipe and something I saw on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and wanted to see if I could make it myself.

I’ll probably not make these again for like 10 years. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. But you get my point.

I love pickles. I don’t know that I can rightfully call myself a pickle connoisseur but I do have my preferences. I am a fan of large “meaty” Kosher dills. I think a lot of this has to do with the way the pickle feels when I bite into it. If it’s crunchy on the outside and nice and juicy on the inside – to me, that’s the perfect pickle bite. Those sweet little gherkins can go to hell as far as I’m concerned. And those sweet mixed pickles have only one use and that’s in homemade antipasto. (Hey, I’ve never posted that recipe … I am totally going to soon!)

So, I highly recommend you use the right kind of pickle here. I suggest the Vlasic Kosher Dill Pickles. But, it’s important to buy the right size of jar. The larger the jar, the larger the pickles it seems and therefore the best for the pickle chips we are making here. I have bought the smaller jars of Vlasic Kosher Dills and the flavor is there but the pickles themselves are smaller and therefore not exactly my favorite.

Who knew I could ramble on about pickles so much?

Oh, and one more very important thing. Do not try to make pickle spears with this recipe. Stick to making them in ‘chips’. I tried both methods and found that a light dusting of the cornmeal/rice flour mixture did not stick well to the skin side of the pickle spears and so it didn’t really work out as nicely. I am going to experiment at another time with more of a heavier batter-type fried pickle but for now, use this light dusted crunchy coating with sliced pickle chips.

Update: I have perfected the deep fried pickle spear with a different recipe. If you want to try it out hop on over to the recipe here.

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I’ve never had fried pickles before because of my allergy, but I’ve heard that they’re great. This might be fun to try for a Super Bowl party. Any other fun recipes to share? I was going to attempt some kind of gf, vegan mozzarella sticks and buffalo wings.

Super Bowl party! Great idea Betty. I wonder how a vegan mozzarella stick would work … use some Daiya cheese shreds and mix them with something to get it to stick together then bread and fry? Sounds challenging. 🙂 As for the buffalo ‘wings’ … hmmm I know people use seitan to make faux wings but that’s not GF so I don’t know what a suitable option would be. If you come up with something I’d love to hear it!

Cauliflower is a good subsitute for buffalo wings! I steamed cauliflower, then made a beer batter (GF beer+GF flour of your liking. Don’t make too thin. So good!), deep fried the battered cauliflower, tossed in favorite sauce (I used BBQ instead of buffalo), and then you keep warm in the oven while you make the rest. Everyone at the party loved these!